Fantasy romance novel, as other reviewers have noted. I like it, but I'm not sure how much I like it; and I find it hard to judge, because I've probably never read anything like it. Spoilers ahead................................................................................................................The protagonist is Richard Matheson himself, depicted as a fictional "Richard Collier." The story is told in first person, but technically told by his fictional brother Robert after hearing Richard's account. At the beginning of Richard's story, he is slowly dying of a brain tumor, and has wandered away from his home in Los Angeles, randomly choosing to visit San Diego.

Visiting a museum inside a famous old hotel at Coronado Beach, he sees a photo of a late-19th-century stage actress named Elise McKenna, and instantly falls in love with her. He obsessively learns everything he can about her, and eventually discovers that she had some kind of mysterious "scandal" in November 1896 at the very hotel where he is now staying, and finally is shocked to find that his name appears on the hotel's guest list from...November 1896.

He then reads some old books on theories of time and time travel. In accordance with one of those old theories by the scientist Priestley (I believe it refers to Joseph Priestley), he uses self-hypnosis to project himself backward in time to 1896....This wasn't one of the best books I've ever read, but good. I liked it enough to be interested in reading more books by Richard Matheson. For an extremely brief period near the end, the novel degenerates into what you'd find in any cheap romance paperback. It could have left the lovemaking details out and not lost anything.